Syria violence kills 4, wounds child despite safe

A Syrian ﻿pulls a cart of vegetables past a destroyed building in the rebel-held town of Douma in war-ravaged Syria.

Photo: SAMEER AL-DOUMY, Stringer

BEIRUT - Violence left at least four opposition fighters dead and a child wounded in central and southern Syria on Saturday despite relative calm prevailing across the war-ravaged country after a deal to set up "de-escalation zones" in mostly opposition-held areas went into effect, opposition activists and government media outlets said.

The casualties were the first after the implementation of the agreement hammered out by Russia, Turkey and Iran - the latest attempt to bring calm to the country - commenced at midnight Friday.

The establishment of safe zones is the latest international attempt to reduce violence amid a six-year civil war that has left more than 400,000 dead, and is the first to envisage armed foreign monitors on the ground in Syria. The United States is not party to the agreement, and the Syrian rivals have not signed on to the deal. The armed opposition, instead, was highly critical of the proposal, saying it lacks legitimacy.

Details of the plan must still be worked out over the next several weeks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Ahmad al-Masalmeh, who is based in the southern province of Daraa that borders Jordan, said government forces targeted a rebel position near the southern town of Khirbet Ghazaleh, killing four fighters. It was not immediately clear if the fighters were members of the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee that is usually excluded from cease-fires.